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What is up, fellow thermonuclear affers. I am a Dan Valley coming at

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you with out my certified fantabulous co
host, Grant Hughes, but I am

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thrilled and honored to be joined by
the also certifiably fantabulous Katie Heindel, one

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of my favorite writers just of all
time, but of course in the hoop

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sector. Katie, how the heck
are you doing? I'm doing really good,

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and it's so nice to be back
on. Man, it's been a

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long time. It was too long
since. I have a rule where I

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try not to harass people more than
once a year to come up because podcasts

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are long, and like people,
they got stuff to do. And I

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can't believe it's been so long since
I had you on, So thank you

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for coming back on. You're always
so gracious with your with your time and

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answering me so quickly, so I'm
very excited to get to catch up with

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you. Of course, the pleasures
all night. How was the off season

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truding you? I think I saw, unless I'm misremembering, were you really

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in Vegas for eleven days or non
days? Whatever it was. I love

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that it's becoming like an urban legend
and the days are just there's more days.

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Were you there for two months?
Now? I was there for nine

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days, which is a wild thing
to say out loud. Usually my ideal

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summer League time, which I feel
like is already much longer than most people's

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ideal summer League time is five days. Because it's like, I don't know,

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maybe I'm just a sicko, but
I'd like, I really like being

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in the mix. But I was
extended to stay through to some of the

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w All Star stuff, which was
super fun, but it was also kind

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of invigorating. Though I felt like
such a zombie by the end, and

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I like I was such a decrepit
husk. And then I was seeing like

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friends who who cover the W coming
in super like fresh faced and just like

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ready for Vegas, and we're like, what's up? What do you want

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to do? And I was like, I don't know, I live here

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now, like follow me. But
it was very fun. That's a really

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long time to be in Vegas.
I don't think i've as long as I've

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been in Vegas, and I've never
been to a Summer League. Years ago,

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bach Report kept trying to send me
and I was able just to shoot

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it down, like I had no
desire to go. Now they don't even

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ask me. That's a lot.
I think I was four or five days

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as long as I've ever been in
Vegas, and I guess if you have

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stuff and work to do, it
could deactually put nine days. It's a

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really long fun somebody's got like that
much work to do, though, Like

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even the times I've been down and
I've like been writing off like usually I

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will write after, which is great, Like I went, I go down

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typically with you who supports Canada,
and they're just like, yeah, we

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get it. Like you come back, you gotta to compress a little bit

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and then you'll kind of do do
all the writing that you've got to do

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for us. But the times I
have been there and like working off games

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or you know, have other interviews
kind of pop up, you still kind

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of finish those, and like no
one's ever like I don't believe that people

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are like I'm just going back to
my hotel room to work, Like no,

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you're not. Yeah, especially the
first like two to four days there

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or whatever, because like it's very
big. We'll call it networking. It's

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probably networking. Is that working?
It's wandering around running into people. Feels

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like a weird summer camp, like
a twisted summer camp. I think you'd

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like it, even if you don't
like Vegas. I feel like maybe you

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should give another shot. Damn it
would I should probably, And I do

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want to meet up with a lot
of the people I've met over the internet.

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But at that point I'm just so
burnt out from like and it happens.

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I guess it doesn't happen during free
agency anymore because free agencies over in

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five seconds. So it used to
happen during free agency, and so the

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thought of juggling that with summer league
always gave me anxiety. I was too

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excited to talk to you that I
totally butchers the intro Lady Heindel of the

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Basketball Feelings sub stack fame. If
you have not subscribed already, it is

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I guess you do offer it for
free, but it's worth every penny if

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you just pay for it. Just
one probably the single most unique like basketball

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blog. I don't even know whatever
we call it. I love it.

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Do a series called exists I'm going
to ask you about. You're also published

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at Dime, where we have seen
the NBA Summer vacation, just monitoring.

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I'm gonna ask you about that as
well. You're at Yahoo Sports Canada.

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As you mentioned, you've been published
all over the place. You might have

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like the most bylines of at least
anyone I've had on this show, Rolling

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Stone, Flagrant Slam, just a
great writer. If you have not checked

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out Katie stuff before, I don't
know what you're doing, So follow her

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on Twitter at wt ev s.
I'm assuming that's what evs right? Is

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that right? I didn't put you
that, so, yeah, I apologize.

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I was too excited. I was
like ready to get into it.

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It's good, we're just catching up. You are writing a book, though,

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which I wanted to ask you about, in so far as you're allowed

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to talk about it. I had
to google who the you know, the

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John Jeremiah Sullivan. I didn't know
what that was when my start was going

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to be written in the vein of
that. And so I'm assuming it's going

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to be sort of like an essay
style chapter separation, And are you able

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just to give our listeners any insight
into I guess just just what it's about.

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I mean, I'll try my best. It's like it will be,

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it will be very It will be
similar to Basketball Feelings, and that I

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think the basis of it is narrative
nonfiction. So it's writing about basketball in

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the way that I already do.
And that's why I started the sub Stack

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originally to not kind of lose wanting
to write basketball in a way that,

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you know, I feel like I
have a lot of creative freedom and the

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places I write for which I'm very
grateful for, but I still like to

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write a very specific kind of way. I don't know how you would call

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like, I guess I like the
LA Review of LA Review Books did a

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review of Basketball Feelings Like a couple
of months ago, which was still such

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a wild thing to say, but
it was. The writer wrote that it

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was feeling as method, so it
was like a pro chain basketball through the

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lens of feeling as kind of the
predominant way to translate it, you know,

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and just like break it down and
break it apart. And I feel

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like that is how I have always
approached basketball, and I think that's how

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I write about it. So the
book will be like that. Though I

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want to say that I mean sometimes
Basketball Feelings as essays. Sometimes it's like

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a real dear diary situation depending on
what's going on in my personal life,

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you know, And as much as
I want to like let people into that,

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sometimes it's about specific, you know, instances that aren't all that great

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in the NBA, because I do
think, you know, it's important to

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be critical about the NBA and the
people in it when it's called for.

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So I think the book, to
me will be an extrapolation of that.

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But I do want to do a
lot of original some original reporting, and

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I do you want to do some
travel around it. I have some ideas

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for things I've just always kind of
you know, those like big picture stories

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you always have in the back of
your head that you're like, I really

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want to do this, but I
don't know where it would fit. Now

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I kind of finally have a place
where it would fit because it's just my

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thing, and like the my publisher, it was very wonderful and very kind

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every time I approached them, you
know how this goes down as you would

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like an editor, you're like,
well, what do you think, like

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could it be like this? They're
like, that's you. You have to

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figure that out. It's literally your
book, is it? Like there's always

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these big picture topics rolling around that
I think anyone wants to write about when

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they're in this business. Is it
challenging at all finding things to write about

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that won't become dated by the time
the book goes out, because it feels

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like that could be a challenge of
this league moves so fast and changes so

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constantly that you have to find a
subject matter that is going to endure.

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When this gets published in twenty twenty
four, that's probably the goal, maybe

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twenty twenty five, depending on it's
usually about a year. I also used

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to work in publishing, so I
can say it's about a year from when

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a transcript gets turned in when it
actually, you know, hits the shelves

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and gets published. So yeah,
twenty twenty late twenty twenty four feels like

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a generous, generous guess. But
you kind of read my mind, and

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that's actually something as someone who's just
like I love reading and I've always like,

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but I've always hated in books that
kind of predate themselves, whether it's

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like in fiction if there's too many
references to be a pop culture or politics

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at the time, same thing and
nonfiction. With basketball, it's absolutely tough,

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and I think that's something that I
was like struggling with trying to figure

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out what would stay evergreen and the
things I want to approach in this.

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So what I'm gonna do, what
I hope to do, is be as

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like less referential as I can to
actual kind of game to game, season

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to season stuff Like those beats I
feel like are fine for the newsletter because

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it can be you know, immediately
responsive to things that happen in the NBA,

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whereas a book I don't want a
reader want. I want readers that

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don't follow the NBA or basketball still
be able to engage with it, you

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know, just still find something interesting
about it, to still be able to

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read it. Like maybe it's like
it maybe it's an essay that you'd read,

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you know, in the New Yorker
or like New York Times magazine or

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like Slam or something, and you're
just like, oh, I'm actually just

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interested in this subject because of the
way that it's being explained to me and

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being told and I didn't know about
it and now I know something about it,

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or because you know, people are
hopefully who pick up the book are

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going to be predisposed to liking narrative
nonfiction, so that will hopefully help me

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a little bit. But yeah,
I think for me, the subject matter

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that I want to approach is going
to be now predominantly based on people's personal

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stories, Like those might be people
in the NBA and kind of around basketball,

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or kind of concepts and ideas in
the game, but not so much

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like a response or reaction to things
that we see in a season, which

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honestly is someone who covers the NBA
that way is a little bit tricky to

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like get my brain out of turn
on right in that way. Yeah,

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you had said or tweeted that you
always wanted to write a book, which

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I just I find the idea of
writing a book so overwhelming. I'm impressed

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by anyone who is going to do
it. Was this the is there a

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like an origin moment for this idea? Like did it come gradually or is

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this something like is this the way
that you wanted to like through this lens?

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Is that something that you always wanted
to write about at length in sort

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of book form? No? Can
you imagine if I was a kid and

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I was like, yeah, you
were growing up his three year old,

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I would love to write so teric
book about basket I think I just always.

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I mean, like I said before, I know, I've always been

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such a voracious reader as a kid. As a kid, I wrote like

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fantasy stories, like fantasy novel like
just for myself. But like that was

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probably my first four way into like
writing fiction. So like this project came

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about actually like it. I thought
it was fake. At first, I

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thought I was being scammed. But
I was in Houston covering the All American

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Game, the McDonald's All American Game, and I got an email from Adam

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Levy, who's a publisher co publisher
at Transit. He'd said he'd read the

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piece I wrote on the Dunk contest
in the New York Times magazine, and

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he'd gone back and read some other
stuff. And I actually was familiar with

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the series that the book's going to
be a part of, which is called

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Undelivered Lectures, which is a sub
series that this independent publisher has, and

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it's authors that are kind of given
free rein to go off on like a

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specific topic as if it was a
lecture, you know, as if it

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was like a speaking series. But
you can structure that kind of however you

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want. So some of them are
pretty concise, some are more rangy,

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and I have books from that series, which is why it was like such

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a trip at first, and that
immediately I was like, this is a

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phishing scam real, which says more
about like our disinclination to believe things you

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know that are good and happened to
us. But I never thought, like

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when I started Basketball Feelings, I
never thought it could be it would amount

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to a book like maybe in my
wildest most like private kind of secret dreams,

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I thought, you know, I
could write at length this way about

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basketball, And that's probably the only
way I'd want to write a book about

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basketball, unless I was writing a
book about like Kyle Lowry. That's probably

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the only I want to write.
Yeah, So yes, and no,

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I guess like, yes, I
knew I always wanted to write something.

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It doesn't make it any less of
a like daunting undertaking for sure. No,

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I didn't know this would be the
vehicle for it. Did Was it

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always a because you said you kind
of used to write the fiction stuff when

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you were younger? Is it like, I know you were approached about this,

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but when you were in your if
you were to pick like how you

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were going to go about writing a
book, did you envision that it was

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at some point eventually going to be
nonfiction. As you like got into work

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like this more, did you always
wanted to skew towards fiction, Probably like

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secret in my Secret Heart. Yeah, I wanted it to be fiction,

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and I do write that, but
mostly for myself. I haven't yet had

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the guts to like put that out
there other than NBA fan fiction, which

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is something I still do every year
now on Basketball Feelings, but started of

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the Classical with David Roth is actually
how I started writing about basketball. So

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I guess it's a weird full circle. But I think, you know,

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there's things I think we have to
be honest about, especially if you're like

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trying to get a toe hold,
and whether that's like sports media or any

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kind of industry, so certainly like
media right now, but to recognize when

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like maybe by accident, but like
you've discovered a gap or like you've figured

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out something that for whatever reason works
and people respond to. You know,

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Like when I started Basketball Feelings,
I was like, maybe twenty people will

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read this, and it's like it
has like still something that I have to

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pinch myself and be like this is
wild, you know, like we're going

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on upboards of three thousand subscribers to
those letter now and it's still something that

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like, you know, I try
and take as serious as I can.

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But I also am very heartened by
the fact that it seems like there's an

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audience for it. It seems like
I figured out a niche. So like

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if that niche could be a vehicle
that can help me, you know,

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do the thing I always wanted to
do, then then it's great. I

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feel like something I'm trying to get
better at is being less like precious isn't

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the word for it, but like
recognizing your the result of your work over

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time, right that it's like you
are hopefully as a right. Especially you

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know, if you're a writer building
towards something, maybe that's not always a

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book, but maybe it's like a
bigger, broader, more substantial project that's

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not just like writing blog to blog
to blog, or like pitching you know

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here and there. So I think
this is all to I don't know how

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well and like getting this point across, but I think it's like all to

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say to get better at, like
giving myself more credit, and that maybe

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this wasn't the thing I always like
thought I would set out to do.

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But it makes sense to me now
why this has happened. Yeah, I

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think that makes a ton of sense, because I think even on a blog

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to blog basis sometimes or just if
you're saying, Okay, I need to

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cover this NBA season, you can
get so caught up in the process that

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writers, for the most part of
their own harshest critic. So that's not

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going to help. But also you
just get so caught up in the process

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process you can't even take the time
to step back and appreciate the product or

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products that you've been putting out.
And so to be so invested in like

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a book that's the culmination of all
these different things you're doing, is that

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it really needs to be important to
be able to take a step back,

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like, holy fuck, I did
this, because like it's not just like

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you're not going from one thing to
the next, it's like all those things

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rolled into one over such an extended
period of time. And so I,

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yeah, I could imagine that that's
probably difficult to do, but hopefully you're

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able to do it because it's going
to be great. Basketball feel is great.

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But I think you mentioned though,
some of the bigger picture stuff is

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as a struggle. Are there any
other like lessons learned or anecdotes or you

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know, optacles or whatever that you
can share from like the process so far

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that it's like any writing. I
think a part of me was like,

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well, I've got to wait for
like the perfect conditions to like sit down

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and write something. And to me, that's like being somewhere that's like isolated

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and removed from everyday life. But
sometimes it's everyday life that I find the

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most generative I think of writing,
especially like the kind of writing that this

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book will be, because it is
in the vein of basketball feelings, you

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know, like it is something that
when I've had opportunities to travel for basketball

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and like for work in that sense, I always find it like I want

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to write a ton off of that, not just like the thing I traveled

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for, but the trip itself and
kind of like the momentum. So I

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found that where I'm maybe my inclination
is to like complain and be like I

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need absolutely quiet, like perfect conditions
to write this book. That's not the

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way that it's getting done. I
still write long form like by hand and

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notebooks when I get stuck, Like
I do that for just like anything I'm

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writing. But that's really coming in
handy with this. I'm not the best

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at like bouncing ideas of people.
I'm kind of like I want to finish

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one. I want to finish it
all and then like you know, show

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it back to my publishers. So
I'm trying to get better at like sending

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stuff here and there and being like
what do you think, but also recognizing

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that, you know, as I
said earlier, this is an completely like

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self guided thing. Like the editorial
process and writing a book is so different

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than maybe going back and forth with
an editor on a piece like a profile

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piece, you know, or or
a feature anything like that. I think

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there's a little bit more It's funny, there's like a bit more gravity,

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and like I'm not saying this is
deserved. But when I've like approached people

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for interviews or like to approach people
to ask them to help, like for

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things about this book, the minute
you say it's for a book, people

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are like, oh okay, which
again, like I'm not saying that's more

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deserved or not. That more I
think has to do with people's perception of

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like the seriousness of writing a book
versus the seriousness of writing like you know,

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a fifteen hundred word article, right, But somebody's like in gay performance

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or something. I'm not like one
is not more important than the other.

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They're just two completely different things.
Otherwise, I'll have to like report back

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because I still have a lot more
writing to do. Well. I am

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excited for it. Our listeners should
be excited for it. I can't wait

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to when it's out and read it. I wish you the best of luck

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as you go through the process.
I'm sure it will be absolutely dealer though.

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Basketball Feelings we've already touched on a
little bit, but I wanted to

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ask specifically about Exits, which is
the series you do every year where you're

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covering these teams. It's it's like
it's not really a you're covering their past,

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their president, and their future.
And it's very on brand for what

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Basketball Feelings is. But I'm just
curious, especially when you're incorporating these like

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personal anecdotes that add this fantastic twist
and you're able to tie everything together.

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It was there like a like a
genesis for writing this type of series,

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Like a moment where it's like you
identified that, oh this could work,

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or did you just happen to try
it with, because I don't even know

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what the first one was that ever
went up, or necessarily how many years

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you've been been doing it. It
was there like a genesis of Okay,

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like I want to do this type
of series and cover it this way because

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I think it's very unique, like
it's on brand what basketball feelings is.

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But then it's also very unique to
like even for basketball feelings. I like

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that everyone's like, oh, it's
I ran for Basketball feelings, and then

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I'm like, can you tell me
what that brand is because like I don't

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know, I don't know what it
is. But the I think like the

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impetus for exits came through actually a
series that I wrote for Time during the

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PA pandemic called The Year None,
and I still am really proud of those

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pieces. But those were centered on
players who because it was like it was

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when the season was suspended for COVID, and it was kind of reimagining or

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looking at a bunch of different trajectories
of guys like Lebron was one, Jimmy

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Butler was one, Kyle Lowry was
of course one. I think the Grizzlies

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then the team was one. Chris
Paul was one, but it was like

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what they were going to be.
And then the pandemic happened in the season

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suspended, and it was kind of
like imagining what could have happened, not

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00:20:38,799 --> 00:20:42,839
in a fictionalized sense, but just
trying to trace, you know, if

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they had kept going kind of in
this trajectory that they'd been on, what

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could have happened. And I really
liked that. It was like also it

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was kind of a more flexible creative
time because there was no basketball going on,

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00:20:56,279 --> 00:20:59,839
so you know, like Diamond,
like Martin Rickman and the whole crew

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there are always been so supportive of
just like any idea I'm ever, like,

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how about this, They're like sure. But that was certainly way more

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in the vein of what basketball feelings
is probably any and any other like publication

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I've written for. But I really
liked it. And then I think that

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probably gave me the same idea the
first time I did exits, which is

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this is the third year, so
it's three seasons. I started trying to

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think what the first one was.
It might have been the Net the Net.

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It might have been that Nets team
because I made a really bad graphic

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for it, because it was like
kind of centered on West Side Story,

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so it was like a it was
like west a still from like the old

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movie West Side Story, and like
Kevin Durant, that would have been the

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Kevin Durant Nets team, right,
I think so anyway, But I was

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like in the same vein a bit
convenient because it's like, okay, seasons

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over. I know Exits will carry
me through the off season, just with

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the way that I released them like
once a week, right, So it's

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like that would give me something to
write on in the summer. I also

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like the idea of like giving a
little bit of extra time to every team,

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especially in this sad way, it's
like Exits is about teams getting beaten.

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Like it's about teams and it's like
about their seasons ending to them prematurely

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and exploring why that happened. You
know. Sometimes it's about one specific player,

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00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:34,960
sometimes it's about the team. There's
usually like beats of history and kind

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00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:41,839
of unique history of that region,
which I always just like going down wormholes

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to kind of figure out. They'll
be like cultural aspects. There's some ties

335
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to art, you know, architecture
in a couple of them. I can

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00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:55,880
think this year just like whatever,
I'm kind it's an architect here unless I'm

337
00:22:55,880 --> 00:23:00,079
misremembering. Yeah yeah, And then
like as you mentioned, sometimes it's like

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00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:04,000
what's going on with me? Weirdly
I can figure out a parallel and not

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by forcing it, like I try
never to force it, but to try

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and find a parallel to that team, because sometimes it's on a theme like

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with the six Ers one that I
just did, it was kind of like

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00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:21,759
Joel Embiade as Prometheus, but it
was also about this like human inclination to

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00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:26,000
persevere when sometimes actually you just want
to sulk, like Embid does. And

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so that I had, like I
had plenty of examples at the time for

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00:23:30,319 --> 00:23:34,039
that personally that I tossed in there
and tied them together as best I could.

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But I think to me, like
we and again like you know this,

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00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:45,079
We've talked about this. So everything
is so accelerated in NBA media,

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00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,079
especially like you don't like we don't
even really get an off season anymore,

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00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:52,799
like now is the off season,
but like people are still you know,

350
00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,359
super fevered to hear about the trades
that are still left to be done and

351
00:23:56,519 --> 00:23:59,640
want to predict like the season to
come, like there is really no downtime

352
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:03,279
anymore, and everything is just like
you have these moments and then you forget

353
00:24:03,319 --> 00:24:07,039
them, like sometimes the next day, sometimes within the same day. So

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00:24:07,079 --> 00:24:10,559
I think the idea of exits to
me was also trying to sit with something

355
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a little bit longer, and by
virtue of the fact that, like I'm

356
00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:18,960
writing these as teams get eliminated,
but the playoffs move faster than I do.

357
00:24:18,599 --> 00:24:25,519
So like only now am I getting
into the conference finals right right in

358
00:24:25,599 --> 00:24:29,920
the current exit series, I like
the Lakers will be the next team up.

359
00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:33,440
So that's like, you know,
a lot of this is now,

360
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:37,000
like in the for the NBA,
like ancient past for us, like it

361
00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,400
is not really so long ago,
but it's like a nice exercise. I

362
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,640
think it's trying to slow things down. Reflection is important too, because,

363
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:48,160
as you said, it's not even
just the acceleration, it's everything's about looking

364
00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:52,000
ahead. Is that a lot of
the coverage I do, I find myself

365
00:24:52,039 --> 00:24:56,960
maybe not so much on the podcast, but it's writing about things that are

366
00:24:56,079 --> 00:25:00,440
going to happen, not living in
the moment or electing on what just happened.

367
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,759
And so it's cool to see,
like because even when we do we

368
00:25:03,839 --> 00:25:07,839
do like a look ahead series here
every year where we do forty five to

369
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,279
ninety minutes on every single team gets
their own podcast. The numbers on those

370
00:25:11,279 --> 00:25:15,799
things are terrible. Partly no one
wants to hear ninety minutes worth of the

371
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,240
Charlotte Hornets, but like I feel
like it's it's instructive for me going into

372
00:25:18,279 --> 00:25:22,920
the season, Like even that's about
looking ahead, and so very rarely do

373
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:26,400
we get the chance too, And
that's part of what makes it unique.

374
00:25:26,799 --> 00:25:32,480
Is very very rare. Is there
like this extended reflection on what just happened

375
00:25:32,519 --> 00:25:34,519
and what it could mean. I
actually do think that is important, and

376
00:25:34,519 --> 00:25:38,400
it feels a space that doesn't really
exist, and it feels like today's sports

377
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:45,279
media lexicon. Yeah, I think
everything is you know, driven by Unfortunately

378
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,160
now I don't want to say everything. I'm not trying to be cynical,

379
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:52,240
but like aggregation and what's gonna get
picked up and share around And there's not

380
00:25:52,319 --> 00:25:56,240
a lot of room even for longer
editorial, which I think is a bummer

381
00:25:56,279 --> 00:25:59,599
because that's the stuff I love reading
the most, you know, especially if

382
00:25:59,599 --> 00:26:03,079
it's a player profile that's like doesn't
necessarily have to be tied to anything within

383
00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:07,240
the season. You know, it's
like sometimes you just want to read a

384
00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:11,200
long prayer player profile though PJ.
Tucker, I'm still waiting to read that

385
00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,240
one. Maybe I'll write it.
But like, you know, there's some

386
00:26:14,279 --> 00:26:18,359
guys who are just like or you
know, athletes in general, where you're

387
00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,359
like, I'm just fascinated by this
person. It doesn't have to be tied

388
00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:23,359
to anything. I get why it
has to be for the sake of that

389
00:26:23,519 --> 00:26:30,039
outlet, you know, wanting to
get engagement with that story. But I

390
00:26:30,079 --> 00:26:33,519
think there's always room to kind of
slow things down and look at things,

391
00:26:33,599 --> 00:26:37,000
especially in the NBA, when it's
like you forget more stuff than you remember

392
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:41,240
in a season, like something that
happened this year, like in a video

393
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:45,119
or a podcast listening to or somewhere
like, oh, like damn, that

394
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,519
happened like three seasons ago, and
they're like, no, that was two

395
00:26:48,519 --> 00:26:53,720
months ago, right. If you
do ever write the future on PJ.

396
00:26:53,839 --> 00:26:59,319
Tucker, can you maybe ask him
what would be his dream flavored pancake yea

397
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,240
that he would build. I really
appreciate the answer. Yeah, who ditch

398
00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:07,200
year? Specifically, who has been
the most challenging team so far to write

399
00:27:07,319 --> 00:27:12,200
an exit for the Hawks I have
just unfortunately, I have to say,

400
00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:17,640
are always challenging to me because I
don't find that much compelling about the Hawks.

401
00:27:17,759 --> 00:27:21,359
I'm sorry to say to Hawks fans. I want to, but I

402
00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:25,519
feel like they've been repeating sometimes I
just get because it's like this is the

403
00:27:25,559 --> 00:27:29,240
third year now, so a lot
of the teams that I'm seeing repeat.

404
00:27:29,839 --> 00:27:32,680
I know that they are technically good
teams because they keep making it to the

405
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:36,559
playoffs, but the reason they keep
falling out is usually the same thing as

406
00:27:36,559 --> 00:27:40,359
a season before. Certainly it's that
case with the Sixers. The Sixers I

407
00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:45,400
am like very fascinated by, even
though in that Sixers exits and I'll repeat

408
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:48,960
here, like someone wants unsubscribed for
meske Well Feelings and you can say why,

409
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,519
like I don't ever usually try and
read these things because I'm like,

410
00:27:52,839 --> 00:27:56,000
it's okay, like I don't need
to know. You can unsubscribe in peace

411
00:27:56,039 --> 00:27:59,160
if you'd like to. But I
read it once and someone just wrote anti

412
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:03,960
Sixers like that I was, and
I really thought about it. I was

413
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,920
like, am I like, I
don't think I am. I think that

414
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:14,440
they're so like their problems or like
the problems they come to repeat. Are

415
00:28:14,559 --> 00:28:18,559
so obvious to me that it's very
fascinating as to why, because it speaks

416
00:28:18,599 --> 00:28:22,559
I think, to a lot of
like human fallibility at its core, you

417
00:28:22,599 --> 00:28:26,599
know, and just this urge to
always be like maybe we'll get them next

418
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:33,319
year, like this kind of goldfish
brain situation. But the Sixers are always

419
00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:37,480
challenging. Uniquely for that, the
Hawks were just because again I had to

420
00:28:37,519 --> 00:28:41,799
try and find I found this year
especially like a toe hold to dig into

421
00:28:41,839 --> 00:28:48,240
something. Who else some I try
not to be too precious about teams that

422
00:28:48,279 --> 00:28:52,039
I actually root for, you know, and like enjoy writing about. I've

423
00:28:52,079 --> 00:28:56,240
avoided some of that this year because
this year I've asked guests to contribute.

424
00:28:56,759 --> 00:29:00,359
So, like I knew I would
have a hard time with the Heat spoiler

425
00:29:00,359 --> 00:29:04,920
alert, I have someone else writing
the Heats. But just as I knew

426
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,519
I would like, I love that
team. I love so many individual athletes

427
00:29:08,559 --> 00:29:12,000
on that team that I would probably
it would probably not be fair. It

428
00:29:12,039 --> 00:29:18,279
would probably just be like a glowing
like like almost fictionalized review, which I'm

429
00:29:18,279 --> 00:29:22,839
sure Heat fans would like love to
read. But I don't really think that's

430
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:26,119
kind of like fair gift in the
way that I've treated these things. Now.

431
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:33,240
I found the Warriors last season hard
to write because I mean in the

432
00:29:33,279 --> 00:29:38,000
Warriors one, but like no that
the Warriors went last year. Yeah yeah,

433
00:29:38,119 --> 00:29:45,960
yeah, See this is like talking
about but like there's also something about

434
00:29:45,119 --> 00:29:48,960
perfection that's difficult to write about.
You have to try and find the cracks

435
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,640
in something that seems at the surface
like perfect and like a juggernaut and you

436
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,039
know, a legacy. So that
was more about like what is legacy and

437
00:29:56,079 --> 00:30:00,839
what can that mean and like how
much we want these things to kind of

438
00:30:00,839 --> 00:30:04,960
topple. Teams get to this level
and then we're like you've been good enough

439
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,759
for long enough and now we'd like
to see you fall. So that was

440
00:30:08,799 --> 00:30:14,160
more of that. But I can
usually find I can like rev myself up.

441
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:18,000
The Bucks have been tough because like
the Bucks are such like a workaday,

442
00:30:18,559 --> 00:30:23,000
blue collar team that it's like there
is personality there. I'm not saying

443
00:30:23,039 --> 00:30:27,599
that individual guys don't have it,
but as a whole, like Underbud,

444
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:32,200
that team was just like I don't
know, man, like they just they

445
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:36,640
are basketball robots and that's not that
much fun to write about. I can

446
00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:41,359
see that I cannot recommend it enough. Basketball feelings. Go subscribe to it.

447
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,440
The link will be in the podcast
and YouTube descriptions, and check out

448
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:48,119
all the exits that you can go
back and read. They are compelling stuff.

449
00:30:48,799 --> 00:30:51,279
I can't have you on and not
ask about the Raptors. And it

450
00:30:51,319 --> 00:30:52,880
worked out because I was gonna ask
you about the Raptors anyway, but then

451
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:59,519
you wrote about them for Yahoo Sports
Canada. Is there like from afar it

452
00:30:59,559 --> 00:31:03,799
seems like they are very much going
through an existential crisis. Is that accurate

453
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:07,440
or an oversimplification? Like do they
maybe just have a better idea of what's

454
00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:11,839
going on there than the people like
myself who are thirty thousand feet away are

455
00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:15,319
able to grasp. Now, that
feels correct, and I think I would

456
00:31:15,319 --> 00:31:21,759
have maybe like pushed against that right
up until the end of this past season

457
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:26,440
and then kind of watching them really
like first I was like, Okay,

458
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:30,200
they're just taking a casual approach to
the offseason. They're just having a dovetail

459
00:31:30,319 --> 00:31:33,960
into it. They're going to figure
out the coaching thing first, because like

460
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,680
it was pretty quick, like they
fired Nick Nurse and then it's like,

461
00:31:37,759 --> 00:31:41,079
Okay, they're ready to make a
change. They recognize Miss I came out

462
00:31:41,599 --> 00:31:45,160
and said, you know, he
was there was a bigger disconnect than he

463
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:48,319
even imagined. He and Bobby Webster
did not like watching this team play basketball,

464
00:31:48,359 --> 00:31:52,799
as most Raptors fans also did not
like watching the team play basketball this

465
00:31:52,839 --> 00:31:56,200
year. He kind of admitted to
like having too much of a hands off

466
00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:00,440
approached this past season and that there
were riffs and kind of divides within the

467
00:32:01,279 --> 00:32:05,240
culture or team or how you want
to look at it. That also started

468
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,960
to clarify as the offseason war on. But like wearing on I think is

469
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:13,400
the right word, because the Nick
Nurse decision was like that was the most

470
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,000
direct responsive decision they've had all summer
and since then, I feel like my

471
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:22,720
word is just stalling. And I'm
always very like I like to catch these

472
00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,039
things by saying like we don't know, we know maybe a fraction of what's

473
00:32:25,039 --> 00:32:29,240
actually going on in the front office. Sometimes trades are taking a long time

474
00:32:29,799 --> 00:32:32,960
because like most everything is in place
and there's one weird little thing that just

475
00:32:34,039 --> 00:32:37,519
like time needs to figure out,
or like they can't decide yet. You

476
00:32:37,559 --> 00:32:39,799
know, maybe someone is just like
waiting. That's fine too, Maybe someone's

477
00:32:39,839 --> 00:32:44,960
on vacation, that's great. But
with the Raptors. I will say it

478
00:32:45,079 --> 00:32:49,200
really feels like stalling. When I
wrote about for Yeah Who Sports was that

479
00:32:49,599 --> 00:32:52,799
I feel like they keep trying to
bank on these anomalies that work for them

480
00:32:52,839 --> 00:32:55,240
in the past, like a Fred
van Fleet, you know, like this

481
00:32:55,519 --> 00:33:00,960
undrafted kind of like Prodigy who came
up through nine oh five, you know,

482
00:33:00,039 --> 00:33:06,599
like their G League system with Pascal
Siakam, like two soup those guys

483
00:33:06,599 --> 00:33:09,400
are. Those guys are like we
talk a lot about like generational players,

484
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:13,680
but we don't in this sense,
but like those two are so specific in

485
00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:17,480
that like that's not going to happen
as a big siren goes by. That's

486
00:33:17,559 --> 00:33:22,599
not gonna happen again for a really
long time. The NBA just doesn't really

487
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:27,200
built that way. So there,
but the Raptors had such success with that

488
00:33:27,559 --> 00:33:29,920
for such a long time that I
think they're like, well, we could

489
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:32,680
just do that again, you know, and like you look at and this

490
00:33:32,799 --> 00:33:37,960
was not to disparagem Marquisnoel, who
I've really enjoyed watching play and I think

491
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,880
like is going to be such a
fam favorite whether he plays for nine or

492
00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:44,920
five or the Raptors. But the
team's like, you know, I've heard

493
00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:45,680
from the team of them being like, yoh, we see a lot of

494
00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,079
parallels to him and Fred van Bleet. It's like, I get why you

495
00:33:49,119 --> 00:33:52,000
want there to be parallels, but
it won't be the same thing for you.

496
00:33:52,079 --> 00:33:54,640
And like, you know, firing
Nick Nurse was necessary, I think,

497
00:33:55,119 --> 00:33:59,039
but you've brought in a coach now, and again I think it's Darko

498
00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:02,839
Rakovitch, who seems like the most
positive person that the Raptors are in dire

499
00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:07,319
need of, like a coach of
that caliber. But you bring in a

500
00:34:07,359 --> 00:34:13,280
coach who has some international experience but
doesn't have any maybe like head coaching experience

501
00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,880
in the NBA. He has assistant
coaching experience in the NBA. But like,

502
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:20,280
again, you're kind of banking on
this en lightning to strike twice because

503
00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:22,199
it's what's worked for you in the
past, Whereas like I wish the Raptor's

504
00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:28,519
methodology was just like maybe a little
bit more practical at this point and with

505
00:34:28,599 --> 00:34:34,639
some realism. So I think existential
crisis works. I think Stalin is probably

506
00:34:35,559 --> 00:34:37,719
the other easier thing. I think
they were a bit blindsided by Fred leaving,

507
00:34:38,119 --> 00:34:43,480
But again I think that's like it's
pretty troubling if a front office misjudges

508
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,079
or misreads a situation by someone who's
been that close to the franchise for so

509
00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:54,239
long. You know, like Fred's
motto, his like copyrighted slogan is bet

510
00:34:54,320 --> 00:35:00,280
on yourself. Yeah, he was
always going to do that. Yeah,

511
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:06,719
It's just it's weird how they've kind
of boxed themselves into what was considered invention

512
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,079
where it felt like they had like
this very creative vision and then they boxed

513
00:35:09,119 --> 00:35:14,079
themselves into it. And the moment
for me was at the trade deadline where

514
00:35:14,079 --> 00:35:16,480
they gave up a top six protected
pick for Yacca Peartle, where it just

515
00:35:16,559 --> 00:35:21,000
was like, Okay, this franchise
feels like it's spinning its wheels and doesn't

516
00:35:21,039 --> 00:35:23,840
necessarily know what it's doing. And
of course the FEV departure is the big

517
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:28,400
one, just because okay, you
now let the guy who assisted on a

518
00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,679
third of Yaco Peardle's buckets just leave
for absolutely nothing, and as flawed as

519
00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:36,440
he was as a quote unquote point
guard, it is just so instrumental to

520
00:35:36,519 --> 00:35:39,079
what you were doing and is not
a player. This isn't even like it's

521
00:35:39,079 --> 00:35:45,440
more egregious than flipping Kyle Lowry for
the precious that you were returned just because

522
00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:47,880
Fred van Fleet is like in his
heyday still even if people were disappointed how

523
00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:52,119
he played last season, So I
don't understand what the hell is going on

524
00:35:52,159 --> 00:35:54,760
there. I've mostly been inclined to
just like give the benefit of the doubt

525
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:59,679
to MASSI point being, I picked
Precious to win most Improved Player leading into

526
00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:02,760
this sea that went the complete opposite
direction. I feel like this is a

527
00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:07,719
much less compelling question now that Fred
van Lead is left. But if you

528
00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:10,639
were running the Raptors, is they're
like and I don't mean to oversimplify it

529
00:36:10,639 --> 00:36:15,519
into three choices, but if it's
start over around Scotti, continue this middle

530
00:36:15,559 --> 00:36:20,719
build however you want to phrase it, or eventually double down on what you

531
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:23,400
have in place now, Like is
there a preferred route that you would take

532
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:28,960
this team if you were running it. This is tough because I'm always a

533
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,159
bit pragmatic when it comes to rebuild
or bust kind of mentalities, because I

534
00:36:32,199 --> 00:36:37,480
think what always gets lost in that
is like the team's bad. Now if

535
00:36:37,519 --> 00:36:40,440
you rebuild, it's going to be
much worse for a much longer time.

536
00:36:42,079 --> 00:36:46,400
Right that said, Like you gotta
look at you know, somebody like o

537
00:36:46,559 --> 00:36:50,639
Gianna nob he's going to be a
free agent next summer. Is he gonna

538
00:36:50,679 --> 00:36:55,079
also walk for nothing? You know? Like and I would think that somebody

539
00:36:55,159 --> 00:37:00,840
like og wants to go or be
on a team that has a compelling and

540
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:04,400
clear plan for him, and Toronto
doesn't really have that right now. I

541
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:07,920
think just as like an athlete who's
like in their prime, and it is

542
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:10,000
like I want to compete, I
want like the most out of my career.

543
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:14,440
It's probably not here. I don't
know what's going on in this place.

544
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:20,679
So I think, to me,
the situation is more like you got

545
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:25,559
candid this half rebuild you didn't really
want when Fred didn't resign. You kind

546
00:37:25,559 --> 00:37:30,360
of now have to see it all
the way through. You're making things pretty

547
00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:35,719
bad for one of your like for
your franchise cornerstone, Pascal Siakam, who's

548
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:40,199
left by just kind of floating his
name around. Yeah, Pascal. Like

549
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:45,559
I do have a column called NBA
Summer Vacation Watch, but sometimes it is

550
00:37:45,039 --> 00:37:51,559
it overlaps with like the real basketball
and that Pascal extended his vacation and didn't

551
00:37:51,599 --> 00:37:57,599
come to Summer League rightfully, so
because it's just like why would I I

552
00:37:57,639 --> 00:38:00,039
don't know what's going on here,
like I might get traded. There's no

553
00:38:00,119 --> 00:38:02,639
hurry for me to get home to
Toronto, even though he said time and

554
00:38:02,679 --> 00:38:07,280
again like this is where he wants
to play. So you know, the

555
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:10,199
unemotional part of me is like,
yeah, you finish, finish the rebuild,

556
00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:13,480
finish this thing that like you didn't
want to start, but like you're

557
00:38:13,519 --> 00:38:15,559
in it now and if you wait, you're just going to be a mediocre

558
00:38:15,639 --> 00:38:22,239
team in a conference that's getting so
much better. Like like I get you

559
00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:25,360
know, I am a diehard Pistons
supporter, but I also look at a

560
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:29,239
team like the Detroit Pistons and it's
like they may be a playing team this

561
00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:31,320
year, if not next year,
and like where are the Raptors kind of

562
00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:35,199
and this I mean that to say, like the Pistons and the Magic are

563
00:38:35,559 --> 00:38:38,440
are who we kind of like anchor
the Eastern Conference in right, But it's

564
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:44,800
like those teams are actually improving.
They are and like Magic too, like

565
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:47,199
they are improving. I don't know
that it's like a Magic to Sacramento King's

566
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:51,679
kind of parallel this season, but
they're on the way up. And like

567
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:55,559
you have to make moves and make
compelling and moves that makes sense for your

568
00:38:55,599 --> 00:39:00,559
franchise and like what you can deliver
with the personnel you have, and also

569
00:39:00,639 --> 00:39:02,199
like if you're trying to attract,
to be realistic about like who you can

570
00:39:02,239 --> 00:39:06,159
attract and who you can land.
And right now, I think Toronto's in

571
00:39:06,199 --> 00:39:08,360
a weird middle ground where like they're
not really going to be that competitive this

572
00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:14,320
season as is, So I don't
really think like doubling down and like running

573
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:16,280
it back makes any sense because what
are you running it back to. You've

574
00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:22,679
lost significant like momentum and talent at
skill and just like fundamentally, I don't

575
00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:27,239
know how this roster works. It's
going to be clumpy looking. I think,

576
00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:29,920
yeah, when you look at their
projected starting five, it's Og and

577
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:34,239
and Obi's office on your best shooter, which is like kind of harrowing to

578
00:39:34,239 --> 00:39:36,440
think about. I know, he's
turned into a competent shooter, but like,

579
00:39:36,559 --> 00:39:38,920
yeah, but that's a lot to
put on him, and it's like

580
00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:42,719
you don't really have the support around
him. So I mean, for me,

581
00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:45,320
it's like if you can retain Scotty
and Og, that is a great

582
00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:51,639
point to rebuild from. But like
this this thing of like retooling or adjusting

583
00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:53,760
or just making small, you know, tinkerings kind of here and there,

584
00:39:53,800 --> 00:40:00,920
which Toronto's been doing for seasons.
Now. I think since Empa, you

585
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:05,000
know, it's not working, like
it isn't working anymore, and like you

586
00:40:05,039 --> 00:40:07,760
can't. The league is such now
that you can't get incrementally better every season

587
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:13,760
or you're just gonna get left behind. And I'm totally with you, and

588
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:15,960
I think I just think Fred Leaving
just sewed it like you need to kind

589
00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:20,519
of start over. The pick they
over the Spurs complicates that a little bit.

590
00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:24,239
But I was very much in the
like camp of no double down and

591
00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:28,079
try and get better. But there
was there's been the past years something very

592
00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:32,280
Portland Trailblazers ask where they've been unwilling
to make the big swing. It's we'll

593
00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:37,239
give up a protected pick for Jaka
Peardle. We're gonna bring in Gary Trent

594
00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:38,920
Junior. Will make that trade.
But it was never the Okay, we

595
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:43,199
believe in this talent, but we're
not going to actually act like it type,

596
00:40:43,239 --> 00:40:45,880
you know. And I was convinced
that they were eventually going to make

597
00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:50,119
a bigger swing, and I'm just
you're obviously not. You can't be convinced

598
00:40:50,119 --> 00:40:52,639
anymore. And so i'd be with
you now, but I wasn't. I

599
00:40:52,679 --> 00:40:57,239
think we all and definitely it happens
with me that we romanticize rebuilds. I

600
00:40:57,239 --> 00:41:00,400
don't think that they were actually at
that point until they let Fred and Fleet

601
00:41:00,440 --> 00:41:02,159
leave specifically, we're just like,
Okay, well now what are you guys

602
00:41:02,159 --> 00:41:07,079
even doing here? I mean,
I think they kind of started. It

603
00:41:07,519 --> 00:41:09,679
was almost like a slow burn,
I think, since they were in their

604
00:41:09,679 --> 00:41:14,719
mind trying to enter the Jannae sweepstakes
a little bit when like it was the

605
00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:19,400
season that they let Marcasol you know, in Search of Vaca both walk because

606
00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:22,519
those guys wanted two year contracts and
they were only prepared to give them one

607
00:41:22,599 --> 00:41:29,039
year contracts. And I think that's
when you start to drain your talent and

608
00:41:29,159 --> 00:41:32,400
you drain a lot of your identity
as well. In that you you've and

609
00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:37,639
you haven't like rebuilt that back.
That's to me where it started, which

610
00:41:37,679 --> 00:41:40,559
is also what I wrote about in
that story. But like I think that

611
00:41:40,719 --> 00:41:45,239
was like the slow decline, you
know, Yeah, that's a great point.

612
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:50,119
That was like kind of the almost
quick deterioration or slower deterioration of like

613
00:41:50,159 --> 00:41:53,079
that Championship Corps like just losing all
that and they all went to LA basically,

614
00:41:53,519 --> 00:41:57,519
and it just feel like they've never
fully recovered from that, as as

615
00:41:57,519 --> 00:42:00,079
tantalizing as they've been at times.
So I've gone from the point where I

616
00:42:00,119 --> 00:42:04,960
was just found them very compelling and
I'm like morbidly curious as to what's going

617
00:42:05,039 --> 00:42:08,239
like where It's not I'm not watching
out of joy or like genuine curiosity,

618
00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:12,840
it's it's just born in this weird
place of just morbidity. Yeah, you're

619
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:15,679
just like how does this work?
Like how does this thing get up and

620
00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:20,000
move around? Like what does this
team look like on the floor. That's

621
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:22,159
where I'm at, And I wouldn't
even hazard to guess what happens next,

622
00:42:22,239 --> 00:42:25,840
just because I never would have predicted
that they let Fred van Ley leave for

623
00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:29,159
nothing? And now it's like were
they going to do the same thing with

624
00:42:29,199 --> 00:42:32,119
og and Norciakam, which is sos
just I have no idea what to expect

625
00:42:32,119 --> 00:42:35,400
from them anymore. It's just completely
where I'm at. But I'm with you,

626
00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:38,519
I wouldn't expect them to be very
Yeah, I wanted to ask you

627
00:42:38,519 --> 00:42:45,079
about some of your offseason and superlatives
so far, and I'll begin with which

628
00:42:45,119 --> 00:42:49,440
team do you find most compelling for
whatever reasons ahead of next year? Right

629
00:42:49,519 --> 00:42:52,320
now? I mean I already like
floated the Pistons, but I feel like

630
00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:57,119
that's so personal and like I might
be the only person on that island.

631
00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:00,239
I love that call peof a diehard
Pistons supporter. I don't know that.

632
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:06,320
I definitely did not know that I
am. I've the Pistons are probably why

633
00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:12,880
I like Dennis Rodman and that era
of Pistons basketball, followed by Rashid Wallace,

634
00:43:14,079 --> 00:43:16,920
Like those were the teams that made
me fall in love with NBA basketball.

635
00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:22,400
Okay, yeah, like one just
like this really super ostentatious, like

636
00:43:22,519 --> 00:43:28,519
really you know, larger than life
kind of bravado. The other like this

637
00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:32,039
true underdog story, which is like
I'm always chasing that I think in my

638
00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:38,039
favorites within the NBA. So and
then I don't know, I just I

639
00:43:38,119 --> 00:43:40,920
just hung on. I think also
as a as a horse girl, as

640
00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:46,480
a kid who was a horse girl, the Pistons like demon horsehead jersey that's

641
00:43:46,519 --> 00:43:51,320
just burned into my brain. It's
like my favorite jersey of all time.

642
00:43:52,199 --> 00:43:55,360
Man, the teal ones from them, I'm not I think we recycle ideas

643
00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:59,280
too much, but like that is
when you see those jerseys, that's like

644
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:05,199
a real kick in the nostalgia field. Yes, anyway, not the Pistons.

645
00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:08,480
I think the Clippers are actually very
compelling to me, which is funny

646
00:44:08,519 --> 00:44:13,480
because as you said, they are
kind of like Toronto two point zero,

647
00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:19,800
like that's they've just stolen the blueprint
and you know what, if it works

648
00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:22,840
and you can get those guys,
great. But I also am a diehard

649
00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:29,920
Russell Westbrook supporter, and I feel
like, again, you're always like what

650
00:44:30,079 --> 00:44:32,320
could this be the one? Like
could this be the one where it works?

651
00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:36,519
And like could this be the fit? But a part of me feels

652
00:44:36,519 --> 00:44:42,679
like maybe yes, because I think
Kawhi Leonard is so technically skilled and proficient

653
00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:46,679
and just like wants to only play
basketball that he can almost balance or maybe

654
00:44:46,719 --> 00:44:52,239
deflect, some of Westbrook's propensity to
just be himself at all costs at all

655
00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:58,599
times. I also think it will
just be a pretty fun team to watch.

656
00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:02,920
People felt that way last year about
the Clippers, but I do feel

657
00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:10,440
that way this year. Yeah,
Clippers. There there's something weird about them,

658
00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:15,400
which is why they fascinate me.
Where it's like using lowad management as

659
00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:19,559
an example, when we talk about
it, everyone seems to deliver the qualify

660
00:45:19,559 --> 00:45:21,880
of that well, players want to
play, it's the teams that are making

661
00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:25,039
these decisions. Whatever's talked about with
the Clippers, it's always phrases like Kauai

662
00:45:25,119 --> 00:45:29,159
and Paul George don't want to play, and like Tyl is mad about it,

663
00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:31,440
and I find that so strange.
And then there's the whole lingering future

664
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:35,719
of like Tyler has a few years
left on his contract, but everyone thinks

665
00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:38,199
that he's just eminently gettable. Now
you're throwing rust into the mix where he

666
00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:42,960
is. I gained a new appreciation
for him watching him in last year's playoffs.

667
00:45:43,239 --> 00:45:46,480
He's like the perfect person to have
when you just don't have enough,

668
00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:51,960
because when he's himself, that's someone
who kind uplift what feels like a lower

669
00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:55,719
floor. I just don't know how
he functions within a higher like ceiling dynamic.

670
00:45:57,119 --> 00:46:00,000
And it's well, is this the
perfect situation for him? Because apparently

671
00:46:00,159 --> 00:46:01,840
these two other stars aren't going to
play in a bunch of games, maybe

672
00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:06,159
by their own choice. I just
they confuse the hell out of me,

673
00:46:06,159 --> 00:46:08,159
And they want to add James Harden
into the equation and it's like, all

674
00:46:08,239 --> 00:46:13,480
right, Russ is there. That
didn't end to well in Houston. They're

675
00:46:13,519 --> 00:46:16,159
just they're weird. They're weirder than
any team with so much talent should be.

676
00:46:16,199 --> 00:46:20,199
To me, they're very weird.
Then, like the herded thing feels

677
00:46:20,199 --> 00:46:23,719
a little bit to me like they're
just throwing money at this at it like

678
00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:28,320
the fit doesn't really make any sense. And I also don't think unless you're

679
00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:30,880
like I was gonna be like,
unless you're envisioning Paul George's out a lot.

680
00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:35,679
But then like James Harden has also
shown that I don't mean he's he

681
00:46:35,760 --> 00:46:38,079
will physically be in the game,
but he is mentally checked out right,

682
00:46:38,559 --> 00:46:42,920
which is like one of the most
frustrating things to watch about him, because

683
00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:45,480
you're like, you're so when you're
good, you're like, it is effortless

684
00:46:45,599 --> 00:46:50,000
and it is like a pleasure to
watch you play basketball, but then there's

685
00:46:50,039 --> 00:46:52,159
some days where you're like, you
just don't want to be there, And

686
00:46:52,199 --> 00:46:55,480
I understand that too, Like I've
also felt that not in basketball, but

687
00:46:57,760 --> 00:47:00,119
they could certainly use his playmaking,
but the idea of him to like a

688
00:47:00,159 --> 00:47:04,320
team that doesn't play fast to begin
with, which is why Russ is intriguing

689
00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:07,760
because he can inject pace into them
is just yeah, I don't. This

690
00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:09,679
might be a situation of, well, if we can really get him for

691
00:47:09,760 --> 00:47:13,719
what we can offer, which isn't
really much, even if they're putting everything

692
00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:15,800
on the table, well then we
might as well just do it because it's

693
00:47:15,800 --> 00:47:17,880
still James Harden and so why not
try it out. That's what this almost

694
00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:21,519
feels like. If they trade Rest, then I'm out on the Clippers.

695
00:47:21,599 --> 00:47:23,679
Like, if Rest is part of
that trade, then I take back.

696
00:47:23,679 --> 00:47:29,039
I'd be wild if he gets flipped
to the trade deadline for Hard and that

697
00:47:29,039 --> 00:47:30,679
would be even see those two on
the same team again for a third time

698
00:47:30,719 --> 00:47:35,599
would just be weird. Clip again
weird. That's that's the Clippers that were

699
00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:38,360
But weird is intriguing. Weird is
intriguing. So between the end of last

700
00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:43,440
season and now, which team have
you changed your opinion on? Whatever it

701
00:47:43,519 --> 00:47:45,960
initially might have been the moment season
and now you think I would have a

702
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:52,480
good answer for this Because of writing
exits about most of these teams, I'm

703
00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:54,599
feeling most of my opinions have said
the same. I've not I think Dallas

704
00:47:54,679 --> 00:47:59,440
is still going to be bad.
I don't I love that, Like I

705
00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:05,280
don't care or about the Mavericks.
I think the Nuggets will be great and

706
00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:10,280
kind of like steadily the same the
Lakers. I don't know what my opinion

707
00:48:10,360 --> 00:48:14,360
is, but it hasn't It's just
like this is still a mess that hasn't

708
00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:22,800
changed. I'm just running through teams
now. Maybe the ohad no, no,

709
00:48:22,079 --> 00:48:27,079
you're the Boston Celtics throw you for
like a whirl with everything that they

710
00:48:27,119 --> 00:48:31,039
did, just sort of getting rid
of their cultural backbone for Christoph porzingis of

711
00:48:31,039 --> 00:48:35,360
all people. Yeah, I mean
to me, that's like a bone headed

712
00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:39,199
move really, like I don't know, I've seen like, oh, he

713
00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:42,960
raises their ceiling. I don't really
care, Like I don't I could.

714
00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:47,320
I care so little about christophs porzingis
playing basketball because we also haven't seen like

715
00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:52,199
since he left the nixt him do
that like to Eddie team and I mean,

716
00:48:52,239 --> 00:48:57,519
like the Mavericks have their own huge
problems, but like you know,

717
00:48:57,719 --> 00:49:00,519
he didn't contribute there at all.
I think in a way that Boston thinks

718
00:49:00,559 --> 00:49:06,159
he can contribute. And you've also
brought in this like to me, like

719
00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:10,320
the thing people are keep weirdly like
skirted over is the fact that like incredible

720
00:49:10,599 --> 00:49:15,760
rape allegations against this guy that like
didn't they just went away because people stop

721
00:49:15,800 --> 00:49:20,880
talking about them. Yeah, yeah, but you've gotten rid of someone who

722
00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:23,559
was like the pillar, as you
said, of your like great culture.

723
00:49:24,480 --> 00:49:30,519
Like as much as like people who
aren't Celtics fans hate admitting there's like a

724
00:49:30,559 --> 00:49:34,599
Celtics culture, but like he was
it. And now you've bounced him to

725
00:49:34,639 --> 00:49:37,280
a team that actually I think he'll
do really well on and we'll embrace him

726
00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:40,119
like with such open arms. I
think he'll be like such a great presence

727
00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:45,000
and kind of exactly what they need. Maybe you've done him a favor,

728
00:49:45,119 --> 00:49:50,400
but like you've you've gutted, you've
got it. The chemistry of your team

729
00:49:50,400 --> 00:49:53,599
and your franchise and also just like
kind of a cornerstone of how that team

730
00:49:53,639 --> 00:49:59,800
plays basketball is now gone. So
like this kind of gritty edge that you

731
00:50:00,079 --> 00:50:05,159
at is gone because Christaps Porzingis does
not play basketball that way. Yeah,

732
00:50:05,199 --> 00:50:09,000
and even great year last year from
Porzingis, but just Marcus, like you're

733
00:50:09,000 --> 00:50:13,079
at a net deficit of playmaking like
men, Marcus smart, your defense is

734
00:50:13,159 --> 00:50:16,559
less versatile too, And so just
even from the basketball purely basketball perspective.

735
00:50:17,159 --> 00:50:22,800
I'm still struggling to see how it
even increases their ceiling. Like it feels

736
00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:25,639
like a very you're banking on him
to be what he was for Washington last

737
00:50:25,719 --> 00:50:30,719
year, but better than that and
in a different way, and it just

738
00:50:30,760 --> 00:50:35,400
feels like a very weird gambit to
make. And so I didn't like to

739
00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:37,000
trade for the Grizzlies either. I
was in the minority. I think Marcus

740
00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:40,320
smart. I just I didn't love
it for them. But Boston confuses the

741
00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:45,199
hell out of Yeah, it might
be Boston just because of that like confusing

742
00:50:45,239 --> 00:50:47,639
move. But the only thing is
like when you were like what he did

743
00:50:47,719 --> 00:50:53,440
for the Wizards, like that's the
Wizards, Like I think you have ended

744
00:50:53,519 --> 00:50:59,320
up too. It's not like he
carried them like a top whatever they draft

745
00:50:59,440 --> 00:51:02,639
ninth year. The team is now
like self and it's like blowing itself up

746
00:51:04,159 --> 00:51:07,599
at like out of plus like it
to austerity, like to stay alive.

747
00:51:07,719 --> 00:51:09,599
Right, that team is now blowing
kind of itself up from the inside,

748
00:51:10,039 --> 00:51:15,079
and like he just made them look
better because like look around at what's there.

749
00:51:15,239 --> 00:51:17,119
I don't know, just for a
team like Boston that's going to constantly

750
00:51:17,119 --> 00:51:20,840
be playing or things are gonna be
playing deep into the playoffs. He's such

751
00:51:20,840 --> 00:51:23,440
a limited playoff track record, too, which is also so bizarre. Is

752
00:51:23,480 --> 00:51:27,800
there a team that is shaping up
to be like your guilty pleasure to watch

753
00:51:27,880 --> 00:51:31,599
or cover or talk about leading into
next season. It might be the Pacers,

754
00:51:31,679 --> 00:51:35,079
okay, but I don't know if
it's guilty. I feel like I

755
00:51:35,159 --> 00:51:37,679
don't have I don't know. I
feel like in basketball you kind of got

756
00:51:37,679 --> 00:51:42,519
to own up to the like weird
things that you like watching, you know,

757
00:51:42,760 --> 00:51:45,840
like the whether that's like players or
teams. But I think the Pacers

758
00:51:45,840 --> 00:51:50,840
to me are starting to kind of
look a bit like that. Was it

759
00:51:50,960 --> 00:51:54,519
like the twenty fourteen or like fourteen
fifteen kind of Pacers that were like really

760
00:51:54,599 --> 00:52:00,079
fast and fun and like super exciting
to watch, Except for now, I

761
00:52:00,079 --> 00:52:04,760
think they have such a better fundamental
kind of base line of skill. Yeah,

762
00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:07,599
I don't know. I think they
will to me, like, I

763
00:52:07,639 --> 00:52:09,920
want them to be that fast and
fun team again. I think they deserve

764
00:52:09,960 --> 00:52:15,000
to be. But I am also
very intrigued by like somebody like Benedick Mathurin.

765
00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:20,440
I think he's just like gonna get
better. Miles Turner, I think

766
00:52:20,920 --> 00:52:24,239
I'm just like to keep his name
out of for one trade cycle, don't

767
00:52:24,280 --> 00:52:30,079
talk about Miles Turner. Hopefully that
happens. I'm a huge TJ McConnell fan,

768
00:52:30,559 --> 00:52:35,000
like he's working on even somebody like
DJ McConnell, like working on his

769
00:52:35,039 --> 00:52:37,480
three point shooting, which is what
I heard he's been doing, like going

770
00:52:37,519 --> 00:52:42,320
into the off season. Like there's
a lot of intrigue to me around that

771
00:52:42,320 --> 00:52:45,920
team. And I also think they're
kind of like eminently root forrrible or you

772
00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:51,679
don't have to be like a like
a lifelong Pacers fan to root for the

773
00:52:51,679 --> 00:52:54,039
Pacers. They are to me maybe
what the Kings were. Yeah, there

774
00:52:54,280 --> 00:52:58,039
there should be a fun team.
And I love Harry's Haliburton and like you

775
00:52:58,079 --> 00:53:00,519
said, they are just incredibly likable. As I look. They have my

776
00:53:00,519 --> 00:53:02,880
guy Atibi Topping now who might actually
get to play, and so that will

777
00:53:02,920 --> 00:53:07,559
be great. Yeah, it'll be
like out of the like sex for Obie

778
00:53:07,599 --> 00:53:09,360
to leave New York. But like
probably in New York, the New York

779
00:53:09,400 --> 00:53:14,840
bikes were not how Obi Topping and
Vision play. I mean, yeah,

780
00:53:15,199 --> 00:53:19,440
so I'm happy he gets to I
was very much free Obi Topping my guilty

781
00:53:19,480 --> 00:53:22,159
pleasure, and it's actually guilty because
I don't necessarily want to admit that I

782
00:53:22,159 --> 00:53:25,760
would like to watch them. It
is the Wizards because I like that they're

783
00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:30,360
rebuilding, but there's just like so
much I want him in love with Blah

784
00:53:30,400 --> 00:53:35,280
Coolabali. I love this wing and
I think that he hit like a step

785
00:53:35,280 --> 00:53:37,599
back jumper in Summer League and I
fainted. I'm just like, oh,

786
00:53:37,639 --> 00:53:40,440
he's gonna be a four time MVP
based off everything I think he could do.

787
00:53:40,760 --> 00:53:44,679
He is very cool. He's very
cool. Yeah, which just like

788
00:53:44,880 --> 00:53:47,599
you have Jordan Pool and Tayas Jones, and there was Monte Morris was there

789
00:53:47,679 --> 00:53:52,199
for a second, Delan right still
floating around there. You brought back Kyle

790
00:53:52,280 --> 00:53:55,360
Kuzma, and it's I'm a big
believer in Denny Avia, but how is

791
00:53:55,360 --> 00:54:00,000
this going to fit in? And
so there's a lot of potentially redemption arcs

792
00:54:00,039 --> 00:54:04,360
placeholders, some upside there with Blah
but they just I really I don't I

793
00:54:04,360 --> 00:54:07,599
don't know if it's like but like, the Wizards just fascinate me. I

794
00:54:07,599 --> 00:54:09,039
don't know why. And so that
they would be I would question by them

795
00:54:09,039 --> 00:54:12,960
as a guilty pleasure though, because
I'm not going to admit that don't be

796
00:54:12,960 --> 00:54:15,760
a tough watch yeah, I do
like that they I do like that they

797
00:54:15,800 --> 00:54:17,840
brought back out Kuzma because I really
did not see that happening. But I

798
00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:21,760
was like, you know what,
if he's happy there and they're happy,

799
00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:24,719
like that's that's all you could ask
for. My predition would be that they

800
00:54:24,719 --> 00:54:28,519
are absolutely going to move him by
the trade deadline. That felt very much

801
00:54:28,559 --> 00:54:30,880
like we didn't want to lose you. They did what the Raptors maybe should

802
00:54:30,880 --> 00:54:35,079
have done. Yeah, they didn't
want to keep there is there and maybe

803
00:54:35,079 --> 00:54:37,880
we hit on this with Boston.
Was there a transaction though that or move

804
00:54:38,079 --> 00:54:42,559
or storyline this offseason that just floored
you the most. I mean, Boston

805
00:54:42,599 --> 00:54:47,039
didn't flore me because it's like I
don't have much faith in that franchises front

806
00:54:47,079 --> 00:54:52,400
office. I don't know, like
and again this is not maybe on the

807
00:54:52,440 --> 00:54:58,559
technical fits of the team. It's
just on the more like cultural aspects for

808
00:54:58,639 --> 00:55:01,920
lack of a better word, I'm
just trying to be light. But that

809
00:55:02,239 --> 00:55:07,079
move I think didn't make It made
sense in a like very defeating way,

810
00:55:07,159 --> 00:55:09,920
like like okay, here we go
again kind of way to meet. Other

811
00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:14,360
than that, like I have to
say, most of the trades probably because

812
00:55:14,360 --> 00:55:17,119
we hear about them so early in
the sense of like this is this,

813
00:55:17,320 --> 00:55:21,400
like this is a rumor, or
like this has been reported to me,

814
00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:25,559
or players just like making it clear
where they want to go. I'm still

815
00:55:25,599 --> 00:55:30,480
like leaving some room to be surprised
by whatever happens with Dames. I think

816
00:55:30,519 --> 00:55:35,559
I was surprised by doing Brooks's contract
just continuously going up. Normally it's the

817
00:55:35,599 --> 00:55:38,039
reverse in reporting where they give you
the higher number. But he was at

818
00:55:38,039 --> 00:55:40,440
like eighty and then it was eighty
four, eighty six, eighty eight,

819
00:55:40,440 --> 00:55:43,679
and he ended up at like,
oh, it might get to ninety or

820
00:55:43,719 --> 00:55:45,519
whatever. And so that was just
and the way the brook Lopez stuff in

821
00:55:45,519 --> 00:55:50,239
Houston unfolded, They made moves because
they thought he was coming, and then

822
00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:52,400
he just goes back to Milwaukee.
I favored him getting his bag from the

823
00:55:52,400 --> 00:55:58,280
team he wants, honestly misread of
brook Lopez, who just wants to like

824
00:55:58,559 --> 00:56:01,559
be comfortable and have like not have
to move like he seems like the most

825
00:56:01,559 --> 00:56:06,280
practical, you know, it's like
I don't want to move right, And

826
00:56:06,320 --> 00:56:08,440
he was on like the fringe of
the entire MBA when he got the Milwaukee

827
00:56:08,519 --> 00:56:13,039
So there's got to be then he
goes to a runner up for Defensive Player

828
00:56:13,079 --> 00:56:17,119
of the Year and champion. So
yeah, I mean so I but used

829
00:56:17,159 --> 00:56:21,119
it. That was That was the
one that Dylan Brooks reporting and then them

830
00:56:21,119 --> 00:56:23,440
really thinking maybe we're gonna get brook
Lopez was which shocked me the most.

831
00:56:23,480 --> 00:56:29,480
The most important one who so far
is the NBA Summer Vacation Watch MVP.

832
00:56:29,960 --> 00:56:31,880
Oh yeah, that is a good
one. Devin Booker has been taking some

833
00:56:31,920 --> 00:56:37,199
pretty good trips. What did you
say? Your last one said rustic ass

834
00:56:37,280 --> 00:56:40,599
trips unabated. I laughed, Yeah, I saw today though. I think

835
00:56:40,599 --> 00:56:45,119
he's in Italy because he was like
diving off a boat. TMC is trying

836
00:56:45,119 --> 00:56:52,119
to scoop my feet and they reported
him like he's on a boat with bikini

837
00:56:52,199 --> 00:56:57,159
clad women say goodbye to Kendall and
there's a picture of him. I'll send

838
00:56:57,199 --> 00:57:00,639
it to you after diving off like
a little dinghy and it looks photoshopped because

839
00:57:00,639 --> 00:57:04,639
I'm like, he could not have
gotten this much air and his form is

840
00:57:04,679 --> 00:57:08,199
like so precise that I think they
like photoshopped him diving or like his team

841
00:57:08,199 --> 00:57:12,480
did and sold the photos to TMZ. But maybe he's a great swimmer and

842
00:57:12,519 --> 00:57:15,760
I'm not giving him enough credit,
but usually he's like rolling around on an

843
00:57:15,760 --> 00:57:21,320
ATV, like up in the woods
somewhere. It seems like Serge Ibacca has

844
00:57:21,360 --> 00:57:25,480
always taken some pretty immaculate trips.
I think last he was in Souls,

845
00:57:25,880 --> 00:57:29,920
South Korea, and I don't really
know why. It seemed quite mysterious.

846
00:57:31,039 --> 00:57:35,199
He was just he just like posted
an intersection and like geotagged, and I

847
00:57:35,199 --> 00:57:37,559
was like, Serge, what are
you doing there? But I would say,

848
00:57:37,599 --> 00:57:43,159
like a clear MVP contender has not
emerged yet. Miles Turner went away

849
00:57:43,440 --> 00:57:45,760
for a really long time, like
he was in Milan for fashion Week,

850
00:57:45,760 --> 00:57:49,719
and then he stuck around Italy and
then he was like taking some personnel trips

851
00:57:49,760 --> 00:57:52,360
with like him and his GF.
He went to his first like Comic Con,

852
00:57:52,400 --> 00:57:54,159
which I guess it's not really a
vacation, but it seemed like a

853
00:57:54,159 --> 00:57:59,320
big occasion for him, and I
think he's on vacation again, so he

854
00:57:59,400 --> 00:58:02,920
might just be by virtue of like
taking the most vacation in the running for

855
00:58:04,079 --> 00:58:07,400
MVP. But usually by now there's
like a clear, clear contender, and

856
00:58:07,599 --> 00:58:10,079
I don't have one yet. I
feel like I would have to default to

857
00:58:10,239 --> 00:58:15,000
bo bon ziplining by the fault,
just I didn't know that a human that

858
00:58:15,559 --> 00:58:21,599
and Paul George like that might be
my MVP moment of like the two friends,

859
00:58:21,679 --> 00:58:23,119
like I guess every when the MBA
knows each other. But when you

860
00:58:23,159 --> 00:58:27,639
wrote that they like met up like
a negro too, which I was just

861
00:58:27,679 --> 00:58:30,760
like, maybe it was just because
someone both told them both that they were

862
00:58:30,760 --> 00:58:34,559
there, and it's like such a
small place and like what a weird place

863
00:58:34,599 --> 00:58:36,760
to meet up with someone that you're
like, well, like we should have

864
00:58:36,840 --> 00:58:39,519
dinner, But it looked like they
had the nicest time out together, like

865
00:58:39,599 --> 00:58:42,599
the best time. Another question I
want to ask you. I don't know

866
00:58:42,639 --> 00:58:45,119
what your title would be that would
give you this power, but whatever it

867
00:58:45,159 --> 00:58:50,159
is, like the Big Cheese Basketball
overlord, if you could change one thing

868
00:58:50,199 --> 00:58:53,440
about the way about the MBA,
whether it's about the game, the way

869
00:58:53,480 --> 00:58:57,519
it's covered, the way it's rooted
for whatever, what would it be.

870
00:58:58,639 --> 00:59:01,920
I could go like this is tough
because I could go extremely serious and talk

871
00:59:02,000 --> 00:59:06,400
about the changes that I would really
love to see happen. But maybe I'll

872
00:59:06,440 --> 00:59:10,760
say I would like chase down blocks
to be given like a point system.

873
00:59:12,320 --> 00:59:15,760
Oh I've never heard that before,
and now I'm gonna latch onto it so

874
00:59:15,960 --> 00:59:21,679
forever, like doesn't have to be
a ton But like you know, one,

875
00:59:21,880 --> 00:59:24,559
I think it incentivizes defense obviously,
which a lot of people complain about.

876
00:59:24,599 --> 00:59:28,760
Two. I love a chase down
block. It's like chase down blocks

877
00:59:28,760 --> 00:59:30,639
and dunks. They flip flap for
me. Sometimes I'm like, no,

878
00:59:30,719 --> 00:59:34,119
I just want to see chase down
blocks. I don't want to see anyone

879
00:59:34,159 --> 00:59:37,400
get hurt. I don't mean it
like that. I want to clean chase

880
00:59:37,440 --> 00:59:40,360
down block, which is the only
way these points would be awarded. But

881
00:59:40,440 --> 00:59:45,119
you are incentivizing maybe also the younger
generation coming in play a little bit of

882
00:59:45,119 --> 00:59:50,800
defense, get some extra points,
or maybe it gets you too. I'm

883
00:59:50,800 --> 00:59:52,719
trying to think, does it just
towards your points? Does it get you

884
00:59:52,760 --> 00:59:57,440
to the line, does it get
you a possession? I don't know,

885
00:59:57,519 --> 01:00:00,360
but it needs I think it should
be rewarded in some capacity. I'd be

886
01:00:00,440 --> 01:00:04,719
all for that that it maybe even
block jump shots, which are really hard,

887
01:00:04,840 --> 01:00:07,760
Like maybe they should have a point
system like Wenby. That's like he

888
01:00:07,840 --> 01:00:12,039
would just if you're making that a
new category. All he has to do

889
01:00:12,159 --> 01:00:15,920
is like stand I watched him at
Summer League, just like standover guys like

890
01:00:15,079 --> 01:00:20,239
Dracula, and he can block a
shot from anywhere. That must have been

891
01:00:20,239 --> 01:00:23,760
surreal seeing him in person. It
was cool. It was cool. It

892
01:00:23,800 --> 01:00:28,920
was more funny to listen to how
disappoint in most people were watching him,

893
01:00:28,960 --> 01:00:31,199
because I think everyone just wanted him
to dunk and like do cool stuff,

894
01:00:31,280 --> 01:00:36,760
like like a huge guy would.
But like I loved watching him one just

895
01:00:36,840 --> 01:00:43,000
like move around the floor, like
to see him dribbling, like handling the

896
01:00:43,000 --> 01:00:46,159
ball when he's like he starts from
seven feet up, and to watch guys

897
01:00:46,639 --> 01:00:52,000
try and figure out how they can
defend him and even try and like take

898
01:00:52,039 --> 01:00:54,440
a swipe at the ball when it's
like it's basically being dribbled over their head.

899
01:00:54,440 --> 01:00:59,280
It's like a new type of basketball
being played. So I think that

900
01:00:59,400 --> 01:01:01,280
was really cool. And he's a
really good passer. I thought that was

901
01:01:01,320 --> 01:01:06,639
fun to watch too. I only
saw his bad game and I came away

902
01:01:06,679 --> 01:01:08,280
from it, I'd said afterwards on
the podcast. I was like everyone was

903
01:01:08,280 --> 01:01:10,320
so up in arms about this.
It was like I came away from that

904
01:01:10,360 --> 01:01:13,840
game thinking he's gonna be one of
the greatest players, Like, yeah,

905
01:01:14,760 --> 01:01:19,079
so cool. It's like it's very
rare to realize and see something in real

906
01:01:19,119 --> 01:01:22,559
time, You're like, Oh,
this is gonna change the way that basketball

907
01:01:22,599 --> 01:01:28,920
gets played because of one person.
Like it's invariably like they're gonna have to

908
01:01:28,960 --> 01:01:30,800
adjust. Every team is going to
have to adjust for this guy, and

909
01:01:30,800 --> 01:01:35,599
it's going to trickle down into just
like how things are going forward. That's

910
01:01:35,639 --> 01:01:38,440
like, that in itself is very
cool. The final thing, were you

911
01:01:39,320 --> 01:01:45,119
able to do the one feeling association
for each team? Are you up for

912
01:01:45,159 --> 01:01:46,639
doing that? For doing it?
I didn't write it down, So this

913
01:01:46,719 --> 01:01:52,320
is gonna be total off the door. That's amazing. So that story,

914
01:01:52,679 --> 01:01:57,280
I'm Katie. I'm asking you to
give me one word to describe how you

915
01:01:57,320 --> 01:02:00,920
feel about each of these NBA teams
leading into next season. We begin with

916
01:02:00,960 --> 01:02:06,599
the Boston Celtics bleak. There's Charlotte
Hornets. Maybe should a safe bleak for

917
01:02:06,639 --> 01:02:10,039
that trepidacious? Oh okay, that's
a good one. The Chicago Bulls hopeful,

918
01:02:10,199 --> 01:02:13,920
Oh, the Dallas Mavericks. This
is more than one word, but

919
01:02:13,960 --> 01:02:17,519
it's like an insight joke that everyone
else knows about except for that one person.

920
01:02:17,559 --> 01:02:22,760
And they're that one person. I
guess the joke's on them. The

921
01:02:22,840 --> 01:02:27,039
Denver Nuggets stoic, the Detroit pistonsh
I'm suddenly happy that I included now that

922
01:02:27,079 --> 01:02:31,400
I know how you feel about the
gorgeous Houston Rockets, interesting, Golden State

923
01:02:31,440 --> 01:02:36,840
Warriors, a jan the LA Clippers, intriguing, Minnesota Timberwolves, fun,

924
01:02:36,920 --> 01:02:44,000
Oklahoma City thunder crafty, Orlando Magic
blanking. I've already said intriguing and already

925
01:02:44,000 --> 01:02:46,800
said hopeful with optimistic. Yeah,
let's go with optimistic. Thanks for the

926
01:02:46,840 --> 01:02:52,880
safe Philadelphia seventy six Ers, tragic
San Antonio Spurs, reliable, last,

927
01:02:52,920 --> 01:03:00,039
and perhaps least the Toronto Raptors.
Wolf maybe just Wolf. Thank you so

928
01:03:00,199 --> 01:03:02,119
much for doing that and for giving
me over an hour of your time.

929
01:03:02,159 --> 01:03:06,360
This was It was great picking your
brain. As always, we're able to

930
01:03:06,400 --> 01:03:08,519
just let our listeners know where they
can find you and all the fantastic work

931
01:03:08,559 --> 01:03:12,960
that you do. Of course,
it was my pleasure. Thank you for

932
01:03:13,000 --> 01:03:20,119
saving my brain. Just plaking on
the poor like he just didn't want it.

933
01:03:20,159 --> 01:03:22,880
I wanted it to be correct because
I feel like there's something there.

934
01:03:23,199 --> 01:03:25,559
You know, I'm not and I'm
not trying to disparage that. We are

935
01:03:25,639 --> 01:03:29,800
better than disparaging the magic, like
we as an NBA collective. I think

936
01:03:29,840 --> 01:03:35,400
have moved on from that, right, But people can find me. People

937
01:03:35,440 --> 01:03:39,320
can find Basketball Feelings at Basketball Feelings
dot com. You can subscribe, you

938
01:03:39,360 --> 01:03:43,480
can just read it there. Uh
there's a podcast that goes along with it.

939
01:03:43,519 --> 01:03:45,639
If you are a paid subscriber.
You can find me on Twitter at

940
01:03:45,679 --> 01:03:52,440
whatev's wt evs swear I'm posting all
my work. I'm on Blue Sky with

941
01:03:52,480 --> 01:03:54,039
the same name. I haven't really
figured out if I want to use it

942
01:03:54,119 --> 01:03:58,960
yet. I'm not on threads,
you know. I'm on Blue Sky,

943
01:03:59,039 --> 01:04:01,480
not on threads. Yeah, one
blue Sky maybe that will be the place.

944
01:04:01,719 --> 01:04:05,320
Still on Twitter, be grudgingly.
You can find me a dime,

945
01:04:05,400 --> 01:04:10,960
but as I said before, anything
i'm writing, I will be aggregating it

946
01:04:11,280 --> 01:04:14,360
on Twitter. Thank you so much
again and rest assured. Not only will

947
01:04:14,400 --> 01:04:15,599
I be pestering you again in the
future, but I will not be waiting

948
01:04:15,639 --> 01:04:18,440
two years to do so. Of
course anytime. I'll have to give you

949
01:04:18,519 --> 01:04:23,280
the updates on the book once it's
done, so we can check back in

950
01:04:23,920 --> 01:04:26,559
end of the year. Very excited. Thank you,